Mute Affirmation of Life Drawing

As the paradigmatic tortured artist, Amedeo Modigliani’s biography is now legendary. An alcoholic, drug addict and rampant womaniser, his early death by tuberculosis at 35 ended a turbulent life that feels strangely at odds with the elegance and serenity of his sculptural portraits and nudes. The enfant terrible of the Paris Modernists went largely unrecognised during his lifetime, and he staged only one exhibition, but his work now achieves eye-watering prices at auction. All of this mythologising makes it difficult to unpick some important truths: among them, the central role his lovers played in shaping his work. Even with the catalogue of cruelties inflicted upon them, they continued to propel him forward creatively. By 1917, Modigliani was in the darkest depths of addiction. Even if art historians have argued that it was a result of his worsening tuberculosis – a kind of self-medicated palliative care – his behaviour was no longer unpredictable but wilfully destructive. Enter a young, shy and beautiful art student from a strict Roman Catholic family, Jeanne Héburtene, who found herself seduced by Modigliani’s scabrous charm. Moving in together, Héburtene became the central subject of Modigliani’s late career, and the closest he ever came to a conventional relationship. Together they had a daughter, also named Jeanne, and during wartime escaped to Nice and Cagnes-sur-Mer, where their second child was conceived. A talented painter of modest, meditative portraits, she continued to work quietly as Modigliani descended into mania. During the latter stages of Héburtene’s pregnancy, her disapproving family discovered the severity of Modigliani’s illness and denied her permission to marry him. Modigliani had lost all his friends, and took to roaming the streets of Paris every night, drunk and high. One night, the now estranged (and still pregnant) Héburtene was called to his apartment, where he died in her arms of tuberculosis. A day later, Héburtene threw herself out of a window at just 20 years old, killing both herself and her unborn child. The last of the talented women driven to despair after entering Modigliani’s tangled, toxic orbit – and given her young age, surely the most tragic. Amedeo Modigliani is buried in Paris at Père-Lachais cemetery, close to Jim Morrison.

Drawing:Watercolor on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:29.5 W x 21.7 H x 0.4 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.